


I will find you

by Emilia3546



Category: A Court of Thorns and Roses Series - Sarah J. Maas
Genre: Angst, Battle, F/M, Nessian - Freeform, POV Cassian (ACoTaR)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-14
Updated: 2020-12-14
Packaged: 2021-03-11 00:40:40
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,871
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28066383
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Emilia3546/pseuds/Emilia3546
Summary: Nessian final battle scene, from Cassian's Pov
Relationships: Elain Archeron & Nesta Archeron, Elain Archeron/Azriel, Nesta Archeron/Cassian
Kudos: 27





	I will find you

Feyre's voice was steady, calm as she said,

"Now, Amren and I need to go now." With the battle raging in chaos around us all, they could make it, but king would expect them, he would find them before they reached the cauldron. My mind raced to find something to distract him with, while Rhys made to shoot back to the ground, Feyre with him,

"Wait." He did, waiting for what else Nesta had to say, "Use me. As bait."

"No." Feyre just stared at her sister as I spoke, she couldn't, she'd die, I wouldn't allow that, never.

"The king is probably waiting beside that cauldron." She continued, completely ignoring me, "Even if you get there, you'll have him to contend with. Draw him out. Draw him far away. To me."

"How," Rhys breathed, Feyre still motionless in his arms, as if struggling to process what Nesta was suggesting,

"It goes both ways," Nesta murmured, "He doesn't know how much I took. And if ... if I make it seem like I'm about to use his power ... He'll come running. Just to kill me."

"He _will_ kill you," I snarled, she couldn't possibly face him and survive, not now. She squeezed my arm, holding on tight,

"That's - that's where you come in." To protect her, to lay a trap. I could do that, protect her, even if it took everything, I _would_ protect her, keep her safe.

"No." Rhys glared towards us both, the warning clear, 

_Don't be stupid, don't get yourself killed._

But I ignored it, almost laughing as Nesta dismissed him entirely,

"You're not my High Lord. I may do as I wish. And since he'll sense that you're with me ... You need to go far away, too." Rhys ignored her dismissal and said to me,

"I'm not letting you throw your life away for this." I ran my gaze across our lines, holding strong now as Azriel reached them,

"Az has control of the lines." He could keep them together while we did this, together.

"I said _no._ " Rhys snapped, pure command lacing his tone, but I couldn't follow that order, not after everything he had done for us, not when I had a shot at repaying him,

"It's the only shot we have of a diversion. Luring him away from that cauldron." I held on tighter to Nesta, I would protect her, she at least would walk off this battlefield, "You gave everything, Rhys. You went through that _hell_ for us, for _fifty years_." Feyre's face betrayed her own horror, he hadn't even spoken to her about it, any of it, "You think I don't know what happened? I know, Rhys. We all do. And we know you did it to save us, spare us." I shook my head, blinking as the sunlight shone into my helmet, "Let us return the favor. Let us repay the debt."

"There is no debt to repay." My brother's voice broke, his eyes brimming with tears as he realized what I intended,

"I never got to repay your mother - for her kindness. Let me do it this way. Let me buy you time." My own voice cracked as I spoke,

"I can't." Never, never had a High Lord _cared_ so much, never.

"You can. You can, Rhys," he had to, I had to. "Save some glory for the rest of us." I flashed a lazy grin, trying to convince him that it was alright, to convince Feyre,

"Cassian-"

"Do you have what you need?" I asked Nesta, if I acknowledged Feyre now, I would shatter into a million pieces. Nesta nodded, Amren had shown her what to do, to rally her power, she looked down to Elain, then to Feyre,

"Tell Father - thank you." She wrapped her arms tighter around me, bracing to move, and squeezed her eyes shut as I shot for the ground.

Nesta opened her eyes when we neared the ground, pointing out the clearing she wanted, and clung on tight until I set her down again. Even when she stood on her own feet, she held on though, needing some sort of contact while she summoned that stolen power to her side. She squeezed my hand as the cauldron's power rallied to her, the power rumbling through the world, until it surrounded us entirely, blocking everything else out, until it was just her, and me. She opened her eyes, and the cauldron's power shone out through them, glowing silver as she gazed at me, and threw her arms around me, the silver of her tears indistinguishable from her power,

"I shouldn't have asked you to come."

"I would have come anyway, I will always protect you, Nesta, I promised."

"I'm sorry," she whispered, another rumble of power, urging the king to leave the cauldron, to let Feyre and Amren slip through. She steadied herself again, beckoning, her power singing to the cauldron, _come, come_.

I drew my sword the moment I sensed the king's approach, pushing Nesta slightly behind me, her eyes still shining with that unholy fire,

"Get ready," she breathed, barely holding back the death-blow that she would strike when the king arrived, "He's coming." 

Dark power speared for us, and the King of Hybern winnowed right in front of us. Nesta's power rallied - and vanished. I didn't dare move, not as the king held a man I knew to be Nesta's father before him, a bade at his throat. She would not land that blow with him as a human shield, 

"Nesta," he breathed, his attention crossing between her ears, her eyes, the power spluttering out in them, noting the fae grace with which she now moved. The king smiled,

"What a loving father - to bring an entire _army_ to save his daughters." Nesta had frozen, her power drying up, I glanced around, looking for anything to give us an advantage, anything to save Nesta. The king tilted his head to peer at Nesta's father, eyes raking over his blood spattered body, weathered face,

"So many things have changed since you were last home. Three daughters, now fae. One of them married _quite_ well." Nesta's father merely gazed at her, the king's words barely registering,

"I loved you from the moment I first held you in my arms. And I am ... I am so sorry, Nesta - my Nesta. I am so sorry, for all of it."

"Please," Nesta said to the king, even her pride fading away before this threat, "Please." One word, guttural and hoarse.

"What will you give me, Nesta Archeron?" Nesta stared at her father, shaking his head, silently begging her to strike. While the king's focus was on her, I moved slightly, trying to angle my blade for a clean shot, "Will you give back what you took?"

"Yes."

"Even if I have to carve it out of you?" Her father snarled,

"Don't you lay your filthy hands on my daughter -" The crack resonated through the clearing as his head twisted sideways, as the light in his eyes went out. Nesta made no sound, almost no reaction, but her breathing caught, and as she looked down at his body crumpling to the ground, her power went out. Mine did not.

I launched arrows of blinding red for the king, throwing up a shield around Nesta as I threw myself forward in front of her. The king laughed and met my sword with his own, stumbling backwards under my onslaught, I pushed him back, meeting each of his blows with my blade of magic, forcing him away from Nesta, and her father. I lost sight of her as we fought, blow for blow, he ducked one of my blows, I deflected one of his, neither of us able to get the better of the other. Even his strikes with magic were met by a shield of shimmering red around me, but with each blow that landed on it, my vision blurred, and I barley blocked his attacks, shouting for Nesta to _go._ Power roiled around us at the same moment that my shield finally shattered, and the king landed a blow, slamming his sword into my side, armor crumpling under the force. I let out a bark of pain as my ribs cracked and I collapsed sideways into a tree. 

The king made to shove past me, to attack Nesta, but I stumbled back, blocking him, even as my siphons glowed and failed. The kings smiled as raw power slammed into me, flipping me backwards, and I screamed as bones splintered.

I opened my eyes moments later, surrounded by a pool of my own blood, my wings broken and useless beneath me. My arms buckled as I tried to rise, as the king stood over me, extending a hand, and I bellowed in pain as his power shot through me, making me arch off the ground as another rib cracked. 

"Stop." Nesta stepped towards us, and I mouthed at her run, spitting out a glob of blood onto the moss beneath me. It took her a heartbeat to take in the scene before her, and angled her head.

Not human, not fae. Animal. Predator.

"I am going to kill you," she said quietly, the king's attention snapping towards her, his power leaving me, and facing her as he said,

"Really? Because I can think of _far_ more interesting things to do with you." Nesta's fingers curled, the cauldron following at her side. The king snorted, and brought his foot down on my nearest wing. Bone snapped, and a scream tore its way out of my throat. At the same time, Nesta exploded, all of her power, all at once. The king winnowed away.

Her power blasted trees apart, blasted right across the battlefield, landing in the Hybern ranks, destroying hundreds before they knew what was happening. The king reappeared, surveying the cinders behind him,

"Magnificent. Barely trained, brash, but magnificent." Nesta's fingers curled again, as if rallying that power. But it was gone. She'd spent it all in one blow.

"Go," I managed to breathe, dragging myself towards her, broken wings and leg dragging behind me, leaving a trail of blood over grass and roots, _"Go."_

"This seems familiar," the king mused, "Was it him or the other bastard that crawled toward you that day?" Nesta ran. But not away, no, she ran for me, kneeling at my side, devastation shining in her eyes, but she did not stay to comfort, but picked up my blade, fallen where I had. 

No, no, she couldn't win this one.

I tried to grasp her wrist as she stood, tried to stop her, but she stepped towards the king, lifting that sword before her, standing between me and the king. She said nothing, only held her ground, but her scent reeked of fear. The king chuckled and angled his own blade,

"Shall I see what the Illyrians have taught you?" He struck before she could move, and she leaped back, lifting her sword higher, clipping his blade with her own, fear blazing in her eyes. He lunged again and she retreated through the trees, away, away from me. She dodged another blow, stumbling backwards, and the king grew bored. He moved lightning-fast, slamming her sword sideways and spinning it out of her hand. 

I cried out her name, desperately trying to reach her, and he struck her across the face, so hard that she fell to the floor. The king merely sheathed his sword, towering over her as she pushed off the ground,

"well, what else do you have?" Nesta showed him, turning her hand over as white, burning power shot out of her palm, sending the king flying, trees snapping beneath him, the last of the cauldron's power gone. She surged to her feet, blood at her mouth where he'd struck her and dropped to her knees before me, 

"Get up." She sobbed, trying to pull me up. I tried, and slipped back down, "Get up." Tears were streaming down her face as she hauled at my shoulder, "You're too heavy," she pleaded, still trying to pull me up, her fingers scrabbling in my armor, dried blood flaking off, "I can't - he's coming -" She sobbed, tears splashing down onto my armor,

"Go." I groaned. Her power had released the king, if she didn't go now, it would be too late. He now stalked towards us. brushing off splinters and leaves from his jacket - taking his time. He knew she wouldn't, she wouldn't leave. Nesta gritted her teeth, trying once more to haul me to my feet, but froze at my grunt of pain,

 _"Go!"_ I barked at her, she had to survive, she had to go, now.

"I can't," she breathed, her voice splintering, _"I can't."_

The same words Rhys had given. 

I grunted in pain, but raised my hands to cup her face, the blood stark against her skin,

"I have no regrets in my life, but this." My voice shook uncontrollably with each word. "That we did not have time. That I did not have time with _you,_ Nesta." For the first time, she didn't withdraw at all, and allowed me to lean up and kiss her, lightly, as much as I could manage. I brushed a tear away, "I will find you in the next world - the next life. And we will have that time. I promise."

The king stepped into the clearing, dark power radiating outwards from his fingertips. Nesta looked up at him, saw the death twining around his fingers, then her gaze locked onto mine, and she covered my body with her own. I went still for a moment, then slid a hand over her lower back,

If we were dying, then we'd go together.

"Romantic," the king said, "But ill-advised." Nesta still didn't move, she didn't see the king raise his hand, power whirling in his palm. I held her as tight as I could, focusing on her scent. She would be my last memory when that power struck us. We wouldn't survive. But I would stay with her, we would find the next life together.

I turned my face into her neck, but the blow never came. When I looked back, the king's hand fell, and a choking noise came out of him, and a black blade broke through his throat, blood spraying outwards. Elain stepped out of a shadow behind him and rammed Truth-Teller to the hilt through the back of the king's neck as she snarled in his ear,

"Don't you touch my sister."

The king slumped to his knees, desperately trying to dislodge the knife jutting through his throat, and Elain backed away a step, the fire gone from her, but not from Nesta. She lunged to her feet, heading for the king, gaping at her, blood dribbling from his lips. She gripped Truth-Teller's hilt, and twisted the blade. With every bit of pure Illyrian precision, she twisted the blade into his neck, severing bone and flesh. Elain reached my side as her sister finished sawing the king's head off, her every move calculated, clear, Illyrian. I couldn't help wondering what she would do if I ever got the chance to take her to the mountains, to meet the camp-lords. She'd tear them to pieces.

She glanced down at the king once, still trying to claw the blade free before she made the final pass, her eyes gleaming with that same death-promise that she'd had in Hybern, the king's eyes flared before his head tumbled to the ground.

"Nesta," I groaned nudging Elain away as I reached for her, the king's blood spraying her leathers, her face, her hands. She didn't seem to care, seemed empty as she took up the king's fallen head and lifted it, staring into his dead eyes,

"Nesta," Elain whispered, and the king's head fell to the ground again with a thud as Nesta blinked, realizing what they had done, she was staring blankly at Elain when her sister's gaze fell on their father's body, when the scream tore out of her. I barely heard Nesta's voice as my vision blurred again and I passed out.

I woke again with Nesta sitting beside me, my head in her lap, tears brimming her eyes,

"I'm okay," I murmured,

"No, you're not." Her voice broke, "Tell me how to fix it. Please, tell me how to fix it." 

"You can't." I mumbled, my entire focus on her hands brushing the hair away from my face,

"I can." Az was sprinting for us the moment he landed, dropping to his knees beside me, barely mumbling a warning before his magic forced my bones back into the right place. Nesta murmured softly, her hands brushing away the pain as I bellowed again. Az quickly patched up the rest of my injuries, "He'll live." 

"You idiot." Nesta whispered, waiting for Az to go to Elain's side, draping an arm around her shoulders as she stared blankly at her father. Nesta pressed a kiss to my brow before helping me to my feet, calling for Az to help her as she stumbled under my weight, carrying me between them as we made our way to the cauldron, to Rhys and Feyre, and Amren.


End file.
